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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22738987">Half Priced Candy--Priceless</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyK/pseuds/GinnyK'>GinnyK</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Two Lost Souls on the Highway of Life [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCIS</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Proof I can write a short story, post ep for Lonely Hearts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 18:41:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,686</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22738987</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyK/pseuds/GinnyK</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Short, fluffy post ep for Lonely Hearts.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Two Lost Souls on the Highway of Life [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1351900</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>95</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Half Priced Candy--Priceless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jack held the card to her heart, took a deep breath and let out a whispered “thank you” to the universe.  She stuck the card in her bag to take home with her.  While she was beyond thrilled that Faith had reached out to her, a tiny part was disappointed that Gibbs hadn’t been the one to send the flowers and candy.  But the kiss on the cheek in the middle of the bullpen pretty much made up for it, even if she was subjected to lots of teasing by Nick and Ellie later that day. </p>
<p>Teasing she had been getting used to for some time now.</p>
<p>With a satisfied sigh Jack wandered around her office.  She glanced at the scattered reminders of the holiday.  Four little red paint handprints on paper hearts from the McGee twins were tacked onto her bulletin board, Victoria had painted her a clay heart which was on the corner of her desk and leaning against her mug which held her vast assortment of pens and pencils was a card from Finn.  It was one of the cards you get in a package of 25, enough for the whole class.  On the front was a picture of Gal Gadot as Wonder Women, with the caption, “You’re Awesome!”.  Jack smiled a little at the card.  She and Gibbs had sent him a goodie box of candy, cards and a framed picture of herself, Gibbs and Finn which had been taken the day he and his family had come up to get the house in order to sell.  The picture had been taken on the front steps of Gibbs’ house, the three of them on the top step.  Finn in the middle of them, grinning from ear to ear.  She smiled away the memory as she took a sip from the water bottle next to her laptop.</p>
<p>Jack glanced at her watch, wondering if Gibbs was still around. They were slowly getting back to where their relationship had been, pre-Sahar’s death.  Spending a bit more time together outside of the office had become the norm again. Gibbs hung out in Jack’s office pretty much every day.  He came armed with coffee and most days, a smile. On the days he didn’t come with a smile he would usually tell her why it was missing.  He talked more of his own accord, she didn’t have to drag everything out of him, that was progress. Things were back to being comfortably undefined. And so they usually checked in with each other before heading home for the night.  Jack picked up her phone and called him, as usual cursing his refusal to get a smart phone.  Apparently he was making his way down to see her.  Jack glanced in the mirror on the back of her door and ran her fingers through her hair before opening the door for him.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Gibbs said as he turned into her office, a cup of coffee for each of them and a plastic bag in his hand.  He put the bag on the coffee table.</p>
<p>“Hey yourself,” Jack said as she took the coffee he held out to her.  She took a quick sip and made a face.  “Ew, this is yours,” she announced as she traded his black coffee for her deliciously light and sweet brew.</p>
<p>Gibbs took a look around, admiring the Valentine gifts and cards just as Jack had done a few minutes earlier.  He picked up the card from Finn with the smile.  “I got one with Batman on it,” he said with a grin.</p>
<p>“More candy?” he asked as he motioned towards the box on her desk.</p>
<p>“Actually, funny story about that.  There’s a Sloane Jackson in HR and apparently we got each other’s Valentine’s Day goodies.  She just came and we swapped the boxes.  We both ended up with half a box of candy,” she chuckled.  “But mine came with a card,” she said with a smile.</p>
<p>“Really? So you do have a secret admirer?” Gibbs asked, as a look of disappointment came briefly across his face, a look which Jack caught rather easily.  She smiled to herself, making sure to give nothing away on her face.</p>
<p>“Actually, the goodies were from Faith,” Jack said quietly as she got up from behind her desk. She closed her door as Gibbs took a seat on her couch.  Rather than walk around the table, Jack just climbed over his long legs which were stretched out in front of him.</p>
<p>“That’s great Jack.  Hope this means she wants to start to talk,” Gibbs said with a grin.</p>
<p>“I can only hope,” she whispered, as she swiped at her eyes.  “What’s in the bag?” she asked pointing to coffee table, hoping to change the subject.  She hadn’t really had a chance to process the fact that Faith had reached out to her and wasn’t looking to have a real conversation until she’d had some time to do so.</p>
<p>“Open it,” Gibbs chuckled as he took a sip of his coffee.</p>
<p>Jack opened it to find a bag of red and silver wrapped Hershey Kisses and two packs of Reese’s peanut butter hearts.</p>
<p>“So, I really didn’t remember it was Valentine’s Day.  Not exactly a holiday worth remembering for way too many years.  So I went out at lunch time,” he explained with an almost shy look on his face, one Jack hadn’t really seen before.</p>
<p>“And you bought me half priced, left over chocolates?” Jack teased with a smirk firmly planted on her face.</p>
<p>“What ever happened to…it’s the thought that counts?” he snorted as Jack was already opening a package of Reese’s.</p>
<p>“Oh, it does count,” she assured Gibbs as she handed him one of the peanut butter hearts.  He took it with a smile and held it up in a mock toast.</p>
<p>“I meant what I said in the bullpen, that I wished I had realized it was Valentine’s Day.  I would have gotten something for you, as the other half of my “poorly defined, non public thing”, of course,” he snorted.</p>
<p>“Well, keep it up Cowboy and we’re going to have to drop the “non public” part of whatever this thing is we have,” Jack smirked as she took another bite.</p>
<p>“Me, what did I do?” Gibbs asked, trying to look as innocent as possible and failing completely.  He draped his arm over the back of the couch, propping his head in his hand, looking quite adorable Jack thought to herself.</p>
<p>“Um, the kiss in the bullpen?” she replied with a barely contained smile.</p>
<p>“You got a problem with it?” he asked, blue eyes twinkling.</p>
<p>“Never said that,” Jack whispered back.  “One might say it was even worth the teasing I had to endure,” she added for good measure.</p>
<p>“From who?”</p>
<p>“Ellie mostly, a little Nick too.  And for some reason, Ducky.  Who wasn’t even in on Valentine’s Day. Not sure how he even found out,” Jack replied, shrugging her shoulders a little.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I might have talked to him about that,” Gibbs admitted as he reached to tuck a strand of hair behind Jack’s ear.  “We met for lunch,” he said, as if that would be enough of an explanation.</p>
<p>“And that just came up in conversation?  Were you drinking at lunch?” Jack asked as she scooted over a little, resting her head on Gibbs’ shoulder.  He put his arm around her and held her close.</p>
<p>“Actually, he heard about it from Bishop.  And of course, he couldn’t wait to talk to me about it,” Gibbs said, shrugging his shoulders a little.  “Can’t quite figure out why the hell my team is so interested in my social life.”</p>
<p>“Uh, probably because you don’t usually have one?” Jack guessed and she gently poked him in the chest for emphasis before sitting up a little.</p>
<p>“You’re probably right,” he muttered in agreement.  “Did the team really think I was your secret admirer?”</p>
<p>“Of course they did, why wouldn’t they?” Jack asked, curious to hear his explanation.</p>
<p>“Cause in public we’re not…I mean we don’t…we’re careful,” he stumbled around.  Jack tried to keep a straight face while he struggled to get his thoughts together.  She didn’t do all that well and ended up letting out a not so lady-like snort before she responded.</p>
<p>“True, we do not show any overt public displays of affection but let’s face it, some of the looks between us are very “telling”, no matter how hard we try.  You hang out in here more than anyone else on the team.  We can both be a bit, uh handsy, at times.”</p>
<p>“Nope, not me.  Hands thing that’s all you,” he snorted.</p>
<p>“Okay, I’ll take most of the responsibility for the physical part of our public relationship,” Jack agreed.  “But it’s not like you’re pushing me away,” she added with a chuckle.</p>
<p>“No, not at all,” Gibbs chuckled. </p>
<p>“You know, the team has basically been teasing me since last Christmas,” Jack said with a grin.  It took Gibbs a minute to remember what in the world would have started the teasing.</p>
<p>“The night with the baby, when we were by the truck waiting for Bishop and Torres,” Gibbs said as he put his arm around her and pulled her close.  He pressed a kiss to her forehead, just like that Christmas Eve a year earlier.</p>
<p>Gibbs eventually leaned over and grabbed the bag of candy off the table.  He opened the bag of Kisses, handing two to Jack. </p>
<p>“What would you have gotten me?” Jack asked as she removed the foil from a Kiss.</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Gibbs answered after thinking about it for a minute.  “Probably would have taken some planning and a little consultation.  It’s been a while since I’ve had to worry about shopping for a woman.”</p>
<p>“Consultation?” Jack asked with a smile.</p>
<p>“Probably Tony, maybe Bishop but that would have led to lots of questions,” Gibbs whispered.</p>
<p>“True,” Jack whispered back.  “But there’s always next year, Cowboy,” she added with a grin as she kissed his cheek and settled back into his comfortable and familiar embrace.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This episode made my shippy heart soar, hoping the Slibbs continues!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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